Mechanical
by Alina 122
Summary: 'Humans who think like robots.' That is the only explanation that the scientists give us amidst all the chaos. Non-Magical AU.


**Written for QLFC, Round 3- 90s Nostalgia.**

 **Arrows, Chaser 1.**

 **Prompt: Tamagotchi**

 **Additional prompts: 3) (colour) mauve**

 **6) (word) Barbaric**

 **8) (word) grave.**

 **Word Count (without A/N): 1837**

 _ **Mechanical**_

 _..._

 _Digital Humans: All you need to know about_ _them_

 _~#1 Bestseller, written by Professor Hermione Granger_

…

"Hi. I am Luna, and I am here as your caretaker."

"…Hello. I am 002 and I am programmed to help you."

…

 _Exactly three weeks from today the police department started receiving reports of disappearance which kept on increasing until it finally stopped a week ago. Amongst the 88 vanishing faces, some included: the famous classical dancer,_ _ **Padma Patel**_ _, renowned photographer_ _ **Colin Creevey, Dr Draco Malfoy**_ _, and the Weasley siblings_ _ **, Ginevra Potter**_ _[famous footballer] and_ _ **Inspector**_ _ **Ronald Weasley**_ _; these disappearances created terror all over the city and left the people anxious. The last disappearance to be recorded was of_ _ **Miss Clara Jones**_ _, who was last seen in 'Crossword'—the bookshop she works for. The youngest to have been disappeared is a five-year-old girl,_ _ **Sarah Shaikh**_ _, who disappeared from the summer camp she was attending. Despite no new reports of disappearances, the police request the people to be alert and cautious at all times—_

 _~Excerpt taken from The Daily Prophet_

…

"Okay…002, do you not remember your name?"

"Am I not 002?"

"No, you are not. Your name is Draco Malfoy. You weren't 'programmed' to help others"

"….Okay. Hello, my name is Draco Malfoy. And I am here to assist you."

…

 _Pg 1_

 **Victim's name:** Draco Malfoy

 **Supervisor:** Luna Lovegood

 **Category:** Psychological Therapy

 **Original Identity of the patient:** Researcher and therapist. Son of Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Malfoy. Worked as a researcher under Professor Tom Riddle.

 **Observations:** (Day 1). The patient has no memory of his past self. He cannot function on his own unless a command is given. Doesn't feel any human emotions. He does not consider himself as a 'human.' Changes in eye colour.

 **Progress:** —

 **Result:** _Evaluating…_

…

 _The dictionary describes robots as a machine controlled by a computer that is used to perform jobs automatically. Further, it describes a robot as someone who does things in a very effective way without showing emotions. Digital Humans can be considered as robots but yet they are not. They are humans, who under a certain kind of simulation act like robots. They have a brain, it carries out the essential functions of the body, but it doesn't have its own ability to think. We discussed many theories regarding this matter. The very first question that comes to our mind is, how did these humans come under the simulations? How are they being controlled? I and my group of researchers tried our best to find an answer to these questions as well bring back these robot-like humans to their original state. This book gives the full detail about the fiasco that shook the city. How the Digital Humans were discovered and how they were recovered, the dynamics behind the control simulations and how it affected the victims….._

 _~Excerpt from 'Digital humans: All you need to know about them_ _'_

…

' _Humans who think like robots.' That is the only explanation that the scientists give us amidst all the chaos. For those of you unaware, five days ago the police department was able to successfully rescue 80 people who went missing in the past two months. The remaining 8 have been claimed dead but regrettably, no bodies were found. But the case doesn't end here, the 80 individuals have since then displayed abnormal behaviour and all of them sport the same mauve eye colour. "They don't remember their names and past history. We thought they were suffering from a memory loss. But that just cannot be the case…" said_ _ **Dr Harry James Potter**_ _, who seemed a bit reluctant to share details about the victims' health. All eighty victims are now under Dr Potter's care who is working alongside_ _ **Professor Hermione Granger**_ _to find the reason and cure for their sudden behaviour. "We know that people are getting stressed not knowing what is happening. But I assure them that we are trying our best, our first and foremost priority is the wellbeing of the patient. We need your patience and co-operation in this, especially when our own family is suffering from the same trauma as the other victim's families." Prof. Granger tweeted this desperate plea just 24 hours ago….._

 _~ Excerpt from 'The New Times'_

…

 **The kidnapping cases finally closed. 'Tom Riddle' is the real mastermind behind the abductions, revealed the police. ~** _ **The New Times.**_

…

 **Lucius Malfoy [owner of the Malfoy business empire] sentenced to life in prison without parole for multiple crimes ~** _ **The Daily Prophet**_

 _ **...**_

 **Scientist give new name to the Victims. 'Because of their condition we call them 'Digital Humans' said Prof. Granger' ~** _ **People's Daily**_

…

 _A month passed away since almost hundred people disappeared from London and a week since they were found and later claimed to be 'Digital Humans.' [Read more about them on Pg 10] Yesterday, a press conference was held, in which Inspector Wilson [The case was passed on to him after Ronald Weasley disappeared] revealed the criminals behind the kidnapping. Tom Marvolo Riddle, former scientist, known for his many valuable researches and discoveries in the field of robotics was the one leading these kidnapping. Inspector Wilson also reported that Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange were Riddle's most notable followers…_

… _.On 22_ _nd_ _July, the day Inspector Weasley went missing, the police found the most important clue in Mr. Weasley's study. Weasley had received an email from Draco Malfoy regarding the disappearances. In his email, Draco Malfoy gave the location and blamed Riddle from the vanishing citizens. "Tom Riddle has lost his mind. What he is trying to do with these people is totally barbaric. Inhuman." Malfoy wrote in his email. The next day Draco Malfoy was declared missing. "Draco Malfoy worked for Tom Riddle and it certainly seems obvious that when Riddle came to know about this betrayal, he kidnapped both Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy." Inspector Wilson said. He further explained that with two weeks of planning, the police raided Tom Riddle's laboratory and finally on 27_ _th_ _August all the captives were released._

 _The police were never able to find out the ulterior motive of Riddle as he was killed in the raid. Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange have denied to co-operate with the police and only claim that Riddle's idea of creating these 'Digital Humans' was genius. On the other hand, the researchers have claimed to know the reason behind the captives' robotic manners…_

 _~ Article from The Daily Prophet_

…

The marble floorings in the corridor make his footsteps sound louder and Harry cringes, afraid that it would draw attention. Despite it being two in the morning, this side of the building never sleeps. Hushed murmurings and whisper still echo in the corridor, the people always researching and analyzing something. Harry increased his pace towards the room at the end of the corridor, he could imagine Hermione sitting in her chair, looking tired yet concentrated as hell, hands constantly marking down notes and observations. He had come here to discuss the progress of his patients but also to secret check up on his best friend. Ron's disappearance had already been affecting her and nowadays these researches were taking a bad toll on her.

The doors slid open as soon as he entered the password, and unsurprisingly he found Hermione buried between books and papers.

"Ron remembered your name today," Was the first thing that comes out of his mouth and it was worth everything to see even the tiniest of smile appear on her face. "The amount of progress we have made with them is amazing! Almost all of them have started showing some kind of emotion." He took a seat opposite her sliding down the mountains of files across the desk to her.

"What about Sarah?" Hermione frowned, examining the girl's file. "I heard that she was having trouble lately."

"Sarah is one of the most difficult patient." Harry explained to her, taking the file from her hand and examining it himself. "You do know that they refuse to eat and drink. And we have been providing them with nutrition supplements. Sarah is a child, it was bound to affect her immune system somehow."

"We have to keep a close eye on her then."

Harry nods slightly, "Draco Malfoy cried today." Harry says suddenly, reading the file in his hand. "Luna took him to visit Astoria's grave, he started crying as soon as he saw it."

"Of all the emotions to show." Hermione chuckles slowly, shaking her head. "I was expecting him to sneer or something."

"Honestly, I'm just happy they are acting more…human." He runs his fingers through his hair. The first weeks working with them had been horror. Taking care of them was another level of stress. Especially when they didn't even remember their name. Seeing Ginny and Ron acting like complete strangers around him was bad enough. But slowly and steadily, all eighty of his patients started showing progress. He saw Padma recognize feelings through the music Parvati made her listen. Little Sarah started showing interest in toys. One of his patient got up and drank water without any command, Ron started recognizing his family little by little. And even Ginny, when he gave her the Weasley jumper told him that she wanted to go home.

"There is not much time left." Hermione whispers, stifling a tired yawn. "The antidote is ready, thanks to you. Seamus called me yesterday and informed me that the computer science department are just minutes away cracking Riddles passwords and codes."

"Should I tell my staff to prepare the patients for today?" There is hope in his voice. Riddle had controlled these digital humans from the computer programs he had prepared. The computer Science department had been trying to crack the passwords of the various computers for weeks. Harry was pretty confident that once they shut Riddle's programs down, the simulation would stop and everything would _finally_ be normal.

"Let's just hope for the best."

…

 _The very first thing we noticed was the mauve colour of their eyes fade and return to their original shades. The serum which Dr Potter and his staff injected in our patients worked brilliantly. Now that I look back at the past two months, I realize what a complete mess it was. I don't know what Tom Riddle's intention was, but what he did was unacceptable. As Draco Malfoy said, 'totally barbaric.' The idea of controlling someone by forcing them to forget themselves, forget that they are even human is monstrous. Science is a great gift AND curse to the world. It depends on us to use it safely and only for the progress of humanity…._

 _Lastly as I conclude this book, I would like to thank the many researchers who worked day and night with me. I'm extremely thankful of Dr Harry James Potter and his staff who worked with devotion and took care of these 'Digital humans—'_

 _~ Excerpts from Digital Humans: All you need to know about them_

 _ **Fin.**_


End file.
